A press capable of printing several thousands of pages per minute is an expensive and complex system. The slightest error in usage of a press is highly detrimental, since a halt in the operation of the press for several seconds or minutes represents a large financial loss. Training in the use of such presses is thus very important, so as to limit the errors committed by the user insofar as possible, and to learn how to correct any problem that can occur in a press during operation. However, this training can proceed with difficulty on a press being used, because the use of a press by a novice in the course of being trained increases the risk of operational errors.
Printer simulators used at the end of the training process have existed now for more than 18 years. The first of the simulators, built in 1990 by the Sinapse Company, was the “SIR Offset” printing simulator. This operated in the MS-DOS environment on personal computers (PCs) of that time, supplemented by a double-screen graphics card. The press modeled here corresponded to the minimally acceptable press used at the end of the training process. This press included only one band, and the only product type modeled corresponded to a section of 16 pages. This configuration was completely sufficient and satisfactory for training in rotary printers. It corresponded to the “standard” press of the field, and satisfied the majority of users' needs at that time.
However, the disadvantage of this “SIR Offset” simulator is that it does not reflect the complexity and diversity of current presses. The object of this invention is to be able to simulate a press in a more realistic and complete manner.